Sleeping Arrangements
by Gwen Cooper Williams
Summary: Post 2x09. Gwen visits Owen at his flat when she returns from her honeymoon. Spoilers for 2x06-2x09. Gwen/Owen friendship, with a little bit of Gwen/Owen angst thrown in.


Note: Written from a request of fatsam's for something post 2x09 with Gwen/Owen. Monicacatch22 helped out with this, too.

Gwen gave Jack a hug and left Rhys with him while she walked over to where Owen was standing, his hands in his pocket and his yellow boutonniere drooping slightly.

"Hey," she said softly. "Enjoying yourself?"

Owen shifted uncomfortably and removed his hands from his pockets. "Yeah, it was alright. Sorry I didn't get the dance with the bride, though."

Gwen looked down at their shoes. "Sorry. I just...I didn't think it would have been appropriate."

"Hey, babe, look at me." Gwen raised her head so her hazel eyes met his brown ones. "It'll be alright," He smiled at her with a genuine smile, the kind that could light up a room. "Come here. I do believe I am permitted to hug the bride."

She moved closer and was engulfed in his arms. "I'll see you in a fortnight, yeah?"

"I'll be waiting darlin'."

Gwen tilted her head to kiss his cheek, but he turned and she landed a quick peck on his lips. "See you."

[Two days later

Owen's phone vibrated off his bedside table and landed on the floor. Who the heck was sending him a message this early in the morning? He thought he was the only one who didn't sleep. He flipped it open and smiled. _Dirty Dozen_ was all it said.

[Three days later

Gwen checked her messages from the water closet and wondered why she couldn't just call it the loo. The message read: _A stitch in time_.

[Four days later

Gwen used her newly acquired German skills to simply send Owen: _fünf_.

[Five days later

Owen knew Gwen was expected back in the hub in a few hours, but he still sent off a message to her: _2100_.

Nine rolled around and Owen could hear Gwen fumbling with her key in the lock, mumbling curse words as it refused to open the door. Owen chuckled and opened the door for her. "Bloody key. Never works." Gwen grumbled as she entered the flat. Owen grabbed her in a tight hug. "Missed you," he murmured into her hair. He directed her over to his kitchen, where she started to giggle. Set up on his dining table was a romantic dinner for one, complete with candlesticks, a bottle of wine, and a plate covered by a silver dome.

"You did this for me?"

"You're surprised?"

"Honestly? Yes. I thought you hated having food around since it only reminded you you can't have it?"

Owen pulled out a chair for Gwen to sit down in. "Gwen, darlin', if I avoided everything I couldn't have, you wouldn't be here."

"Oh."

"So, what did you tell old Rhyseyboy tonight?"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "The truth. I told him I wanted to spend time with you. He understood. He trusts us." She dug into the food in front of her. "This is really good, Owen. I didn't know you were such a good cook."

"Er, I'm not. I got take-away. Hope you don't mind." Owen sat down in the chair opposite Gwen and just studied her. He had missed her during the two weeks she was gone, and he was so afraid he might not have gotten the chance to see her again. Her wedding bands caught the candlelight and sparkled. He sighed. If he had thought he might have had a chance he'd have told Gwen not to marry Rhys, but what can a dead guy offer?

"It's delicious." The two of them sat in comfortable silence as Gwen finished her meal. Gwen really felt bad about eating in front of Owen, but since he went through all that trouble, she might as well.

When she was done she asked Owen if she should do the washing up. He agreed, since he hated doing dishes. While she cleaned up her meal, Owen went into the living room and lit some more candles before settling down on the couch.

Gwen soon joined him and settled in next to him with her head resting on his shoulder, blanket pulled over her lap. "So, Owen, tell me what happened while I was away," Gwen looked up at his face eagerly, "I know you have gossip."

Owen ran his hand down Gwen's arm and grasped her hand lightly. "Jack and Ianto seem to be over their little tiff. Tosh and I walked in on them when Jack had Ianto bent over the desk with his-" Gwen interrupted him by putting her hand over his mouth. "I do _not_ want to hear about that, Owen. How's Tosh?"

"Tosh is...Tosh."

Gwen turned around to swat at him. "Owen, that's not an answer. How are things with the two of you?"

"Well, it's not exactly going anywhere, Gwen. I'm a bloody dead man. The most I can do is take her out on dates - dates that I can't even eat or drink on! It's pointless." Owen's voice was rising as he got more and more worked up. Truth was, he wasn't so sure how he felt for Tosh, but at the same time wished he were at least able to give it a go.

"You could take her to a film," Gwen suggested, "Or to a museum. She'd probably like that."

"Yes, let's have the dead man look at bones. No thank you."

Gwen retorted back, "Like you doing an autopsy is any better." She rolled her eyes at Owen. "Just give Tosh a chance, yeah? She really cares about you, maybe even more than I do." She reached up to give Owen a kiss on his cheek, and he responded by dropping a kiss onto the top of her head. "I doubt that," he softly said.

"Okay so...what about work? Anything I should know?"

"Nah. Some weird shit came through the rift, but we sorted it all out. No need to worry. So, tell me about that honeymoon." Gwen settled back into Owen's arms and started telling him all about her and Rhys' trip throughout the continent. All the museums, castles, shopping, everything they did, though she deliberately left out details about their sex life. No need in rubbing that in.

Gwen had stopped talking and the two lapsed into another comfortable silence. Gwen turned her body and curled into Owen. "I really missed you." Owen patted her back. "Yeah, missed you too."

They decided to round out the evening with a movie. Gwen fell asleep halfway through, her body still curled up on Owen, using him as a human pillow. He glanced down at her and sighed. He really wished he could have something like this. He re-adjusted the blanket so it was covering her and gently reached into her pocket to extract her phone. _Better call the husband,_ he thought.

"Hey sweetheart, enjoying yourself?" came over the line.

"Yeah, _sweetheart_, I'm having a blast."

"Oh. Owen, hey mate. Is Gwen alright?"

"She fell asleep. Figured I'd let you know. She looks kind of peaceful, I don't want to wake her," _and I'm really enjoying having her lying in my arms_, he silently added.

Rhys chuckled. "Been married a fortnight and she's already sleeping in someone else's bed. Well, all right. Tell her to call me in the morning."

"Will do." Owen hung up her phone and placed it on the coffee table. He debated about moving her back to his bedroom, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to carry her. He had been handling a few heavier items lately, but none as heavy as a person. Besides, she looked perfectly content to lie on top of him. He turned the sound down to barely a whisper and started watching an old episode of _Eastenders_. It's not like he could sleep, anyway.

Gwen woke up as the early early morning news was starting. At first, she wasn't sure where she was. She and Rhys didn't have a large-screen television. She sat up with a start, squishing against Owen. "Sweetheart, you are so lucky I can't feel anything." Gwen looked down at where she was sitting and a blush crept into her face.

"I'm on your...and if you were...then I just... sorry!" She got up and quickly moved to the other end of the couch.

"No harm Gwennie. Listen, I called your husband last night to tell him you were sleeping here. It's early still, why don't you go into the bedroom and get some more rest? I'll wake you up if Jack calls." Owen stood up and held out a hand to help Gwen up.

"Well, alright, but only if you come lay with me." Owen raised his eyebrows. "Not like that! Besides, you couldn't get it up if you had to."

"Unfortunately," Owen mumbled, but he dutifully followed Gwen into his rarely used bedroom. Gwen went over to his chest of drawers and rummaged around until she found a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. "Making yourself at home?" He smirked.

"Just making myself more comfortable," Gwen said as she changed in front of him. It's not like he hadn't seen her naked before, and besides, he can't do anything. Owen, right now, was the safest man she could be around. She got into bed and patted the space next to her. "Come on. I know you can't sleep, but you could at least keep me company."

With a sigh, Owen turned on the television in the room and turned on the closed captioning so he could watch it on mute. He climbed into bed and Gwen promptly wrapped herself around him. She kissed his cheek for at least the third time that night and murmured, "Love you, Owen." before drifting back to sleep.


End file.
